Michael Olise scored his first career hat-trick to give Didier Deschamps a winning send off on home soil as France beat Northern Ireland 3-1 in their final pre-World Cup friendly. 

Deschamps, who will step down from his role after the World Cup, oversaw his final match in France on Monday, with one of the nation's brightest stars taking centre stage. 

France were, however, frustrated by Michael O'Neill's side, with Aurelien Tchouameni's shot from distance that struck the post the closest the hosts came to taking the lead, with Kylian Mbappe also seeing a goal ruled out for offside. 

However, Northern Ireland's resilience was broken two minutes before the break when Ousmane Dembele's deflected shot broke kindly for Olise, who was on hand to tuck home from close range. 

Olise doubled his and France's advantage three minutes after the restart as Northern Ireland failed to clear their lines, allowing the in-form Bayern Munich forward to smash the ball past Pierce Charles from just inside the penalty area. 

Despite going two goals down to one of the favourites to win the World Cup, Northern Ireland reduced the deficit in the 64th minute through Patrick Kelly, who tapped in from close range after Shea Charles did brilliantly to win possession from Dayot Upamecano. 

But Northern Ireland's hopes of a remarkable comeback were dented 10 minutes later by Olise, who completed his hat-trick in stylish fashion when he bent a curling effort from the edge of the box into the top-left corner. 

In-form Olise aiming to cap 2026 with World Cup glory

France's final match before their Group I opener against Senegal could not have gone any better, with Les Bleus now playing more games against Northern Ireland without ever losing than any other team, winning six of their nine previous matches (D3). 

After being beaten in the 2022 World Cup final by Argentina on penalties, Deschamps and France are out for revenge, and they will be hoping Olise's performance here is a sign of things to come in North America, with the in-form forward delivering once again. 

Olise is the first player to score a hat-trick for France in a friendly since Olivier Giroud against Paraguay in June 2017, while since the start of the year, he has registered 31 goal involvements (15 goals, 16 assists) in 31 games for club and country.

He has also got the taste for silverware after helping Bayern to Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal glory, and he will want to add to his trophy cabinet on the international stage with France, who were made to work for their win against a spirited Northern Ireland team. 

Deschamps' men finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.92 from their 27 shots, though only five were on target, compared to their opponents tally of 1.05 from their four attempts. It was a match to remember for Northern Ireland's Kelly, who netted his first goal for his country on his fourth appearance.